BOOK REVIEW: VIRGIN BY RADHIKA SANGHANI

This is normal, right? I mean, just because everyone I know has talked like they’ve already done it doesn’t mean that they’re telling the truth…right?

It’s not like I’m asking for that much. I don’t need the perfect guy. I don’t need candlelight or roses. Honestly, I don’t even need a real bed.

The guys I know complain that girls are always looking for Mr. Right—do I have to wear a sign that says I’m only looking for Mr. Right Now?

Sooooo…anyone out there want sex? Anyone? Hello? Just for fun?

I am not going to die a virgin. One way or another I am going to make this happen.

Hey, what have I got to lose? Besides the obvious.

As much as I'd love to put in spoilers, because there are so many things I want to say, this is a non-spoiler review. The book isn't out yet so I won't say anything that'll give parts of the story away.

A full spoiler review may go up after the release. Virgin is released August 5th 2014.

My copy of Virgin was provided by NetGalley. Thank you!

---------

First, if you're actually considering to read this book, I'd like to warn you that it's quite graphic. No, not on the sex but on vagina's, talk about vagina's and penises. If a descriptive waxing or a detailed blow job isn't your cup of tea, I wouldn't recommend reading this.

Anyway, let me begin! It won't be a long review as I can't really spoil anything and what I pretty much want to say is about parts I can't ruin, it'll be short but sweet.

At the start, obviously, we meet our main character, Ellie. She's a 21 year old virgin who has had a mission for a long time to lose her virginity. Obviously she blames herself because of a previous experience with a boy and thinks she's un-cherry-poppable.

What I found weird was the fact that she wanted to lose it, not just because her friends had lost it a long time ago, but because she wanted to not go to the doctors and see 'VIRGIN' in big letters on the computer. And to have the option of taking a Chlamydia test. Slighty odd reason but okay! Anyway, she's sick of being a virgin and wants to pop her cherry. She goes through all this trauma of getting ready for it and finding a man suitable enough to take the v-card from her.

She does come across as slightly desperate which is slightly annoying, and she also does talk a bit like she's a lot younger than her age of 21, although sometimes I was laughing so much I just didn't really care. I feel like it was more near the end she was quite immature.

Ellie pretty much brings up all the issues we've all had when we were younger and going into puberty. She mentions when people would compare when they started their period and then it went onto virginity. That's definitely stuff that did happen at school (I certainly remember the 'I finally started my period' chats at my school, as I was the last to get my visit from Mother Nature from my group of friends) but the book does say a lot about friendship. It says that you really can talk to your friends about your problems. I think that's important, a lot of people have embarassing things they keep bottled up and I think it's good to let it out. If you have true friends, they won't laugh at you. I liked that.

She also has the issue of 'do I shave' and a lot of the book is centred on her vagina.. I'm not kidding. About her shaving, looking in the mirror at her vagina, masturbating (yeah..and guess what she uses to masturbate with) and she even starts a blog with her friend about being a girl and vagina's. Strange one.

It also goes to show that it doesn't matter how old you are, if you want to be a virgin, be one. Don't let pressure push you into it. What Ellie does is become so desperate that she'll give it to anyone. Why do that when you can wait for the perfect person. It'll be worth the wait and it's not a bad thing to be one.

Body image is another thing that's brought up, she often compares herself to models on posters in bus shelters and other places, wishing she looked like them. Again, this is the '21 but seems like she's 16' thing again because we all want to look like a supermodel but we don't complain about it as much as that really. I feel like it affected her quite a bit and she had this idea on what a woman should be. Especially comparing herself to her friends, I think she did that quite a bit too.

The guy in this book I didn't like from the start, something about him. He was quite opinionated with politics and with just...boring crap. Some of their conversation I actually skipped over. And there's a big part at the end that really made me dislike him.

And this is one of the reason why I took off a star. The ending. The last few pages really disappointed me. What happened to Ellie was so annoying that I just sat in shock for about 5 minutes thinking 'did the author really do that?'. I didn't like it. At all. We also had no conclusion over it or anything, we were literally told something that's life-changing and at the end Ellie just says 'but I have to just accept it' ummmm....ok? I mean, after all that, all of the moaning and complaining she did, how desperate she was, and that happens.

I also took a star off because I felt it was a bit too long. I think it should of been shorter and I also wish that Ellie was a bit more mature.

All the negatives aside, I think this book is hilarious. Some parts in this I had to put my Kindle down and try and calm down. I was either getting second-hand emabrassment or I was in hysterics.

And I have to say, her relationship with her mother is exactly like mine. Her and her mother have these little fights where she says 'Mum, if I stay in, you say I never go out and when I'm out, you say I'm out too much'. It made me laugh and I could definitely relate to that one. I don't know if all mums do this but mine certainly does. Oh and also the 'you should get a boyfriend' line but we all get that.

Anyway, in conclusion, I did enjoy this book, it was funny, cringe-worthy and somewhat relatable. It did have it's slow times, it was sometimes a bit too graphic and the ending pissed me off a bit, but overall, it wasn't bad.

--

Will you be buying this book when it's out? What do you think? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook!VIRGIN IS OUT AUGUST 5TH 2014.

Subscribe via email

Hello from Natalie and Lexie!

This is where book obsession, book reviews and general bookaholic tendencies converge in a tiny, blog-sized package. News, reviews, lists, discussions and more are available weekly, primarily in the field of Middle Grade, Young Adult and New Adult literature..